Olive Stanton, The Actress Who Started a Labor Rebellion on Opening Night of THE CRADLE WILL ROCK

When the little-known actress named Olive Stanton, with only one short-lived Broadway credit to her name, posed for this 1937 photo to promote Marc Blitzstein's new pro-labor musical THE CRADLE WILL ROCK, she might have had lofty dreams of the fame and stardom to await her on opening night.

After all, she had been cast in the juicy leading role of Moll, a destitute woman in a crumbling factory town who turns to prostitution as a way to keep from starving. She would introduce a song that would be the show's dramatic highlight, "The Nickel Under Your Foot"; a cold ballad about bravely trudging through life's daily disappointments.

Indeed, her opening night performance would make headlines, but not for reasons anyone could have imagined.

Describing his new work as "a labor opera composed in a style that falls somewhere between realism, romance, vaudeville, comic strip, Gilbert and Sullivan, Brecht and agitprop," Blitzstein was only 32 years old when THE CRADLE WILL ROCK opened; younger than Jonathan Larson would have been on the opening night of RENT. And in many ways CRADLE can be thought of as the 1930s answer to that 1990s landmark. Both authors took their inspiration from an established master - Sondheim for Larson, Brecht for Blitzstein - and both musicals are infused with raw energy that makes a loud statement about a rebellious class of Americans.

The plot has Moll jailed for soliciting. She meets another detainee, Larry Foreman, a union organizer nabbed for passing out leaflets to tell people of a labor rally at the local steel factory. While they wait to see the judge, Larry explains to Moll who the real prostitutes are; the government officials, religious leaders, artists and journalists who accept bribes and favors from the rich in exchange for using their influence to protect their fortunes at the expense of the working class.

Hallie Flanagan, Director of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project, which used government funds to create work for theatre artists during the Great Depression, was very excited to support this daring and original new American musical. She assigned John Houseman to produce the Project's premiere of the piece, which would be staged by 22-year-old hotshot director Orson Welles, who had burst onto the scene a year earlier with his all-black mounting of MACBETH.

All seemed to be going well until influential government officials, especially those tied to the interests of corporate America, got wind of the musical's plot, considering it as Communist propaganda that could help incite a revolt among the unemployed.

In a move that mirrored the theme of the musical, the WPA suddenly announced budget cuts that would halt the creation of any new projects. It was less than a week before the scheduled opening and since THE CRADLE WILL ROCK was set to go, it was assumed the new musical would not be affected. But three days before opening night the Maxine Elliott Theatre was padlocked and occupied by security guards to ensure that no costumes, sheet music or scenery - all government property - would be removed. It was the first time, and hopefully the last time, that the United States government took action to prevent a theatre production from being seen.

While Blitzstein, Houseman and Welles were scrambling to find a new theatre, both the actors' and musicians' unions noted that since the WPA was no longer producing the musical, their members would have to be signed to standard commercial contracts in order to stay with it. There was no money for that.

So when the nearby Venice Theatre was secured, the plan was to have Blitzstein, who was not a union member, just sit on stage at a piano and sing and narrate the show by himself. On opening night Welles kept ticket-holders gathered at the Elliot and then, assisted by many of the actors, paraded them to the Venice.

As far as what happened next is concerned, there's debate over how much was planned and how much was impromptu, but when Blitzstein began playing Moll's opening solo, Olive Stanton surprised him by suddenly singing her part from her seat in the audience. Her brave decision to play her part from the house, never setting foot on stage, inspired her castmates to do the same, and they spent the night improvising their staging throughout the auditorium; some doubling up on roles with the author filling in for the rest. While the spirit of their union's restriction was defied, the letter of it, like the stage, remained untouched.

The story made headlines and Houseman was fired from the Federal Theatre Project. Welles resigned in support, but the publicity generated from the opening night performance, and the enthusiastic reception for the material, led them to create the Mercury Theatre Company, which soon produced THE CRADLE WILL ROCK on Broadway for over 100 performances. It was Olive Stanton's second, and final, Broadway credit.

THE CRADLE WILL ROCK is still done quite often. In 2013 it was the premiere production for City Center's Encores! Off-Center series, with Anika Noni Rose doubling as Moll and Raul Esparza as Larry Foreman.

In 1983 Patti Lupone played Moll in an Off-Broadway production directed by Houseman for The Acting Company:

A previous Off-Broadway revival, in 1964, had Jerry Orbach as Larry Foreman: